GDI – Mark Brooks, CEO of Courtland Brooks, talks with Inner Circle founder David Vermeulen about the app’s rapid growth in Latin America and its roadmap to 2027. Vermeulen explains how Inner Circle started as a fix for the time-wasting chaos of early online dating. The discussion covers the platform’s “Date Conscious Suite,” designed to reduce ghosting and enforce respectful behavior. Vermeulen says the goal now is to expand Inner Circle into a community and lifestyle platform built around real-world experiences.
Category: The Inner Circle
Dating Sunday Is the Best Day for Those Returning to Dating Apps
STYLIST.CO.UK – Some experts predict that 'Dating Sunday' will be the best day to be on a dating app in 2023. 'Dating Sunday' (which this year falls on Sunday 8 January 2023) refers to singles joining new dating apps or returning to old favorites on the first Sunday of the year. Typically, dating apps experience a massive surge in users and activity on Dating Sunday. In 2018, Coffee Meets Bagel saw a 75% increase on the first Sunday of the year compared to the previous 30 days, while Tinder experienced a 41% jump in downloads. Inner Circle, meanwhile, is expecting a 40% increase in new members on Dating Sunday 2023.
by Leah Sinclair
See full article at Stylist.co.uk
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Inner Circle Adds a Suite of Anti-ghosting Features
Inner Circle Hosts Parties to Take Dating Offline
METRO.CO.UK – Research from the dating app Inner Circle found that 80% of singles want to meet people in real life more than pre-pandemic. The survey also revealed that a third of singles think approaching people in real life is less common now. Inner Circle is hosting events in London, including cocktail masterclasses.
Fixing Freemium’s Flaw
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW – A large-scale two year study (with Inner Circle) suggests that carefully managing the threshold for the number of referrals needed in order for referring customers to access the premium features can increase customers and generate more profitable ones. There's 8k+ dating sites in the world. In 2019, 39% of U.S. couples said they met online. In 2020 270m adults worldwide subscribed to a dating site, ~double 5 years ago. Most sites don't have a clear idea of how profitable referred customers are compared to the (originating) friends who invited them to join the site. The number of successful referrals users are required to make before they can access premium features (called the referral threshold) can have important effects on users' behavior. Referral-driven growth typically comes at a cost: as the number of referred users in the population grows, their collective level of engagement tends to fall. Raising the number of successful referrals needed to win free access to premium features did not have an impact on the relative activity of their converts. New members were as engaged as those invited by users in referral programs that had a lower threshold. Total revenue increased when we raised the number of successful referrals required for free access to the premium features. Adding additional referral requirements in exchange for premium features did not disincentivize some users. Tweaks could be dynamic: the platform could start by assigning a freemium plan to all users, and after assessing behavior, decide whom to give the option of joining its referrals-for-features program. Individuals value having their friends on the platform. Social referral programs designed to enhance the shared experience of online dating (for example, by organizing offline activities) could be particularly effective in increasing platform engagement.
See full article at Harvard Business Review
Mark Brooks: This study was run by Professor Ting Li and Professor Rodrigo Belo, Rotterdam School of Management. Given that the only mutual contacts I have with them on Linkedin are with Inner Circle, I'm going to infer that this study was with Inner Circle. In short, it's worthwhile amping up your price and proposition testing. Time to hire a data scientist if you don't already have one, or perhaps open up to experiments by academics like this. See IDEA's Project 0d8 at 0d8.com, btw.
Dating Trends Experts Are Predicting for 2022
Top UK Dating Trends
In 2022 Pre-first date video calls became the norm. The Inner Circle has said that this is one way that app users can work out if they have a connection with someone. Experts at Dating.com agreed, arguing that audio and video dating will redefine how we date in 2022, with 90% of users saying they plan on doing it in the new year. And Tinder said that video dates have been mentioned 52% more times in people's dating profiles. Being vaccinated (or not) will continue to play a big role in dating in 2022. While 2021 may have been the year of hardballing, 2022 is going to be the year where daters hold nothing back. OKCupid has identified a 17% increase in BDSM terms in users profiles and there's been a 125% increase in users saying they wanted children.
Mixed up in Love: Challenges in Interracial Dating and Relationships
INNER CIRCLE – June 10 – Inner Circle partnered up with Tineka Smith, author of Mixed Up, to summarize some of the challenges and themes behind British people's behaviors regarding interracial dating and relationships.
- Mixed couples most likely to suffer negative reactions from friends, family, and colleagues
- Daters still fear racism, stereotyping, and microaggressions when using apps
- Racial fetishization is a common issue contributing to racism on dating apps
- Talking about racial challenges as a couple or while dating is taboo for many
- Challenging conversations around cultural differences vary based on ethinic background
Tineka also shared her advice for singles and couples navigating interracial dating and relationships
- Don't avoid the discussion
- Create a safe space
- Honesty is the best policy
The Inner Circle Appoints New Managing Director
INNER CIRCLE – Nov 11 – Masha Kodden has joined the Inner Circle's head office in Amsterdam and will focus on scaling the team and leading the global expansion in EMEA, the Americas and APAC. David Vermeulen will remain the CEO, taking on an advisory role while also running the Inner Circle Innovation Lab, focusing on improving user experience.
Inner Circle Is Banning The Word ‘Hey’
THE HANDBOOK – Sep 15 – Dating app Inner Circle spoke to singles and found the majority (91%) feel the quality of a first message is vital for deciding if they should reply, yet, the same amount of singles have also sent just a boring 'hey' as a first message. So Inner Circle now auto-corrects every first hey/hi/hello message. Instead, they'll swap it for a funny pick-up line. Inner Circle is for people who are serious about dating. Each new member is verified by a team of experts, who check that everyone is who they say they are, while at the same time offering tips for having a successful profile.
The Inner Circle: A Quarter of Singles Have Lied on a Dating App
BUSINESSWIRE – Apr 28 – Ahead of National Honesty Day (30th April 2020), research from dating app The Inner Circle reveals one in 10 (13%) singles would dump someone if they caught them lying. When pressing daters on their own honesty, around a quarter (24%) admitted to having told a 'white lie' to get more matches. While 29% aren't sure why they lied, 25% thought it was harmless. Just 14% admitted to lying to get their match to like them more while the same number (14%) wanted to appear better. The most common lie was telling their matches they exercise more than they do (27%) followed by lying about their age (18%). The research was carried out among 2K members of The Inner Circle in the UK during March 2020.